Think IRAs

HOW well did Republicans do in the 2002 elections? So well that the best spin the Democrats have been able to put on the results is that Republicans will now have to shoulder all the burden of governing. Presumably this burden would have been even heavier, and Republicans would have had even more to worry them, if they had taken all 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

That’s not to deny that governing will present difficult choices. Three issues, in particular, have the potential to vex Republicans: Social Security, health care, and tax reform. But their new majority gives them an opportunity to advance their objectives in all three areas.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

HOW well did Republicans do in the 2002 elections? So well that the best spin the Democrats have been able to put on the results is that Republicans will now have to shoulder all the burden of governing. Presumably this burden would have been even heavier, and Republicans would have had even more to worry them, if they had taken all 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

That’s not to deny that governing will present difficult choices. Three issues, in particular, have the potential to vex Republicans: Social Security, health care, and tax reform. But their new majority gives them an opportunity to advance their objectives in all three areas.